Best Community Colleges in Maryland 2025

Badge for BEST IN MARYLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top-rated community colleges in Maryland offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.

Key Takeaways

  • Many top community colleges in Maryland, such as Anne Arundel Community College, have articulation agreements with institutions like the University of Maryland, allowing for seamless credit transfer and guaranteed admission to bachelor’s degree programs for students who meet certain criteria.
  • With Maryland being a hub for technology and life sciences, community colleges like Montgomery College offer cutting-edge programs in cybersecurity, biotechnology, and data science, providing students with access to advanced labs, industry certifications, and internships with local tech companies and research institutions.
  • Maryland’s community colleges, especially those near Washington, D.C., provide unique internship and job placement opportunities with federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense, offering students practical experience in government-related fields such as public policy, healthcare, and security.

2025 Ranking Update

Our Influence Ranking Engine™ leverages machine learning to track the real-world influence of colleges and universities over time. Below you’ll see which schools gained or lost ground for the 2025 school year.

In 2025, the top ten schools in our ranking of the best community colleges in Maryland saw a considerable amount of movement. Baltimore City Community College gained the most ranking positions as a result of the school developed its Healthcare and Allied Health Programs, with new state-of-the-art simulation labs that offer hands-on training in nursing, medical technology, and emergency services.

The college has also enhanced its Workforce Development Center, providing more opportunities for career training in high-demand fields such as cybersecurity, business, and logistics, with expanded partnerships with local employers for internships and job placement.

We’ve identified 16 community colleges in Maryland. The following list shows the best community colleges and primarily associate degree granting colleges in Maryland.

Best Community Colleges in Maryland

  1. Tuition + fees

    $9K

    Graduation

    27%

    Student body

    15K

    Career Outlook for degree at Anne Arundel Community College

    Cost of Degree: $8,186
    Starting Salary: $42,200
    What is Anne Arundel Community College known for?

    Anne Arundel Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  2. #2

    Montgomery College

    Rockville , MD

    Tuition + fees

    $10K

    Graduation

    28%

    Student body

    24K

    Career Outlook for degree at Montgomery College

    Cost of Degree: $10,398
    Starting Salary: $46,000
    What is Montgomery College known for?

    Montgomery College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  3. Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Graduation

    16%

    Student body

    23K

    Career Outlook for degree at Community College of Baltimore County

    Cost of Degree: $6,918
    Starting Salary: $38,700
    What is Community College of Baltimore County known for?

    Community College of Baltimore County’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  4. #4

    Cecil College

    North East , MD

    Tuition + fees

    $8K

    Graduation

    28%

    Student body

    2K

    Career Outlook for degree at Cecil College

    Cost of Degree: $8,760
    Starting Salary: $36,700
    What is Cecil College known for?

    Cecil College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  5. Tuition + fees

    $6K

    Graduation

    17%

    Student body

    15K

    Career Outlook for degree at Prince George's Community College

    Cost of Degree: $6,194
    Starting Salary: $43,700
    What is Prince George's Community College known for?

    Prince George's Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  6. Tuition + fees

    $3K

    Graduation

    10%

    Student body

    5K

    Career Outlook for degree at Baltimore City Community College

    Cost of Degree: $3,314
    Starting Salary: $32,500
    What is Baltimore City Community College known for?

    Baltimore City Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  7. Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Graduation

    32%

    Student body

    8K

    Career Outlook for degree at College of Southern Maryland

    Cost of Degree: $7,350
    Starting Salary: $40,600
    What is College of Southern Maryland known for?

    College of Southern Maryland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  8. Tuition + fees

    $8K

    Graduation

    23%

    Student body

    13K

    Career Outlook for degree at Howard Community College

    Cost of Degree: $7,920
    Starting Salary: $44,000
    What is Howard Community College known for?

    Howard Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  9. #9

    Garrett College

    McHenry , MD

    Tuition + fees

    $10K

    Graduation

    32%

    Student body

    <1K

    Career Outlook for degree at Garrett College

    Cost of Degree: $9,352
    Expenses: $12,084
    Starting Salary: $31,600
    Cost Recoup Time: 13 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary
    What is Garrett College known for?

    Garrett College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  10. Tuition + fees

    $6K

    Graduation

    35%

    Student body

    5K

    Career Outlook for degree at Hagerstown Community College

    Cost of Degree: $6,390
    Starting Salary: $37,000
    What is Hagerstown Community College known for?

    Hagerstown Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  11. Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Graduation

    33%

    Student body

    7K

    Career Outlook for degree at Frederick Community College

    Cost of Degree: $7,444
    Starting Salary: $42,100
    What is Frederick Community College known for?

    Frederick Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  12. Tuition + fees

    $6K

    Graduation

    29%

    Student body

    6K

    Career Outlook for degree at Harford Community College

    Cost of Degree: $6,302
    Starting Salary: $36,500
    What is Harford Community College known for?

    Harford Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  13. Tuition + fees

    $9K

    Graduation

    35%

    Student body

    3K

    Career Outlook for degree at Allegany College of Maryland

    Cost of Degree: $9,080
    Expenses: $16,070
    Starting Salary: $33,200
    Cost Recoup Time: 14 years
    Paid back at 15% of annual salary
    What is Allegany College of Maryland known for?

    Allegany College of Maryland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

    Most Influential Alumni

  14. #14

    Chesapeake College

    Wye Mills , MD

    Tuition + fees

    $6K

    Graduation

    28%

    Student body

    2K

    Career Outlook for degree at Chesapeake College

    Cost of Degree: $6,344
    Starting Salary: $31,200
    What is Chesapeake College known for?

    Chesapeake College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  15. Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Graduation

    20%

    Student body

    3K

    Career Outlook for degree at Wor–Wic Community College

    Cost of Degree: $6,840
    Starting Salary: $31,400
    What is Wor–Wic Community College known for?

    Wor–Wic Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

  16. #16

    Carroll Community College

    Westminster , MD

    Tuition + fees

    $7K

    Graduation

    42%

    Student body

    4K

    Career Outlook for degree at Carroll Community College

    Cost of Degree: $7,188
    Starting Salary: $35,600
    What is Carroll Community College known for?

    Carroll Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2024 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2023. That’s because we took a fundamentally different approach. For 2024 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.

  1. Montgomery College
  2. Baltimore City Community College
  3. Garrett College
  4. Hagerstown Community College
  5. College of Southern Maryland
  6. Chesapeake College
  7. Frederick Community College
  8. Carroll Community College
  9. Howard Community College
  10. Community College of Baltimore County
  11. Prince George's Community College
  12. Harford Community College
  13. Cecil College
  14. Wor–Wic Community College
  15. Allegany College of Maryland
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